


Space to Breathe

by Just_Another_Day



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Auguste (Captive Prince) Lives, Gen, Introversion, M/M, Mistaken Identity, annoyance at first sight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-23 22:16:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18558973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_Another_Day/pseuds/Just_Another_Day
Summary: When half the known world seems to show up at Arles for Auguste's upcoming wedding, Laurent just wants to get away from all the people for a while. His escape doesn't go entirely without a hitch.





	Space to Breathe

**Author's Note:**

> Fair warning that this is pre-romance for Laurent/Damen, but the undercurrents are definitely already there.

All day Laurent had been able to almost viscerally feel the intruders infringing on his home. He couldn't seem to round a single corner without running into courtiers, or Patran ambassadors, or even a group of disgruntled guards that were avoiding their foreign counterparts that had practically taken over the barracks. There were people _everywhere_ , and Laurent didn't want to have to deal with a single one of them.

The idea that Auguste was in just a few more days going to be married off and would surely end up paying more attention to his blossoming new family than he would to Laurent was hard enough to deal with without having to constantly put on a diplomatic face and cope with having his space encroached upon as well.

He just wanted to get away from it all for a while, even if it was only for a few hours.

Luckily, Laurent thought he knew exactly how he could slip away unseen, even with so many pairs of eyes in the vicinity.

As he gripped the edges of the third-floor window, Laurent shivered. He would like to believe that it was only from cool evening air whipping past him from outside, not from fear. Why would he have to be afraid? It wasn't like Laurent thought he was going to fall. He'd thought this all out, and his plans always went _perfectly_ , so there was no reason to think this would be any different. And even if he did somehow fall, he wasn't up _that_ high. He would survive that kind of fall. Probably. 

Laurent shivered again. Heedless, he reached out towards the branch of the nearby tree.

"That seems like a ridiculous way to break out of a palace," someone called out from below. Laurent's grip almost faltered in his surprise. He hadn't noticed anyone down there. But then, he had to admit that he hadn't looked down for very; he might not be _afraid_ (definitely not), but he was focused on his goal.

He looked now.

It was no wonder that Laurent hadn't seen the man at a glance. He blended into the shadows of the near-twilight with his black hair and his body shrouded in a cloak so thick that Laurent would have it found far too warm even with the temperature dropping as the evening started setting in. He didn't look like a servant, and was surely too young to be a guard, so the likelihood that the man would report having seen him was presumably relatively low. But even so, it was hard to just ignore him when he was staring up at Laurent expectantly, like he was waiting for Laurent to make his move (and maybe make a mistake and hurt himself in front of his audience). The pressure of it was irritating.

"What would you know about slipping out of a palace," Laurent challenged.

"A reasonable amount," the man said cryptically. He didn't bother to elaborate.

"Well I can manage it just fine without your advice anyway," said Laurent.

To prove it, Laurent slowly leaned out of the window towards the branch he was reaching for until most of his body was suspended over free air. The tree limb he finally managed to grab swayed intimidatingly as Laurent transferred most of his weight to it, but Laurent was light enough that it held under him. There weren't many ways in which Laurent was considered physically superior to Auguste, but the fact that he was much smaller than his brother in build had its advantages. Auguste's weight would probably have been enough to snap the branch entirely and send him sprawling to the ground. 

Laurent didn't like that thought at all. He flung it from his mind in favour of concentrating on what he was doing.

Though it was hard to do that when his unwanted observer was calling out, "Don't worry, I'll catch you if something happens."

"I didn't ask you to. I told you, I'm fine on my own."

Laurent let the foot that was still lightly resting on the window sill fall free so that the tree was his only support, quickly swinging his legs around the wood so that he was gripping the branch with all four limbs. From there, he was able to shuffle himself along the length of the branch towards the much thicker tree trunk that he could scale down. 

There were easier ways to sneak out of the palace than this, of course, but they would be nearly impossible to use right now with the castle so overfull. And Laurent suspected Mother – suspicious as she clearly was of their current array of guests – would have spies watching those exits to be sure that nothing untoward was going on under her roof. 

And, to be honest, even if those other paths had been left unobserved and available for Laurent's easy use, half of the point of escaping was the rush of the risk involved.

Laurent was definitely feeling that rush as he slid down towards the ground. 

"That was stupid," the man said as Laurent's feet touched down. 

Up closer, Laurent was surprised by the man's size. His body was massive in a way that was far more obvious now that he was practically towering over Laurent. Laurent could also see his expression better now, even in the low light. Laurent thought he looked impressed, for all that that didn't exactly match up to his words. 

"Stupid?" Laurent repeated, managing with some difficulty to find a way to look down his nose at someone who was nearly a foot taller than him. Laurent was one of the smartest people in the kingdom. He'd never once been called stupid. Not even by Father at his most annoyed. 

"Yes. Definitely stupid, and unnecessary. I mean, I slipped out the front door like a normal person, and no one really took any notice of me. I bet you could have done the same. "

"What makes you think I want to be normal?" Laurent asked.

The man's sudden effusive smile, complete with a dimple in his cheek, was unexpected. What did this fool have to be grinning about like that when he'd just been insulting Laurent? Laurent, for his part, was highly unamused.

"I'm Damen," the man introduced himself, as if Laurent had asked. He held out his hand for Laurent to shake.

Odd name. He pronounced it strangely too. His accent was generally very good for someone who clearly wasn't Veretian-born, but he lost all traces of it when he said his own name. Coupled with his appearance now that Laurent was close enough to see the details of his face, Laurent thought that he was probably one of the many Patrans who had arrived in Arles that very day. Laurent might have guessed he was Akielon – several of them had shown up a few hours earlier as well – but no Akielon would ever have gone to the effort of learning Laurent's language so well. Most of them only knew enough Veretian to spit insults across the battlefield, if even that, from what Laurent had heard. Which was just as well, since it justified Laurent being in a similar position himself. Laurent would admit that his own understanding of spoken Akielon wasn't much above that level, and that he couldn’t see much point in improving it further either; why voluntarily take away the perfect excuse not to have to converse with any of the brutes in their own tongue, or at all? It wasn't like Laurent was going to have to interact with them directly often. They had ambassadors for that.

Laurent was less firmly opposed to having a Patran near him than he would have been with an Akielon, but that still didn't mean that Laurent was interested in having to continue to deal with this person right now. He'd stolen himself out of the palace precisely to get away from people, and to find some uninterrupted time and space alone to think. This 'Damen' would definitely get in the way of that. So Laurent chose to brush past him, intending to leave him behind.

"Wait. You haven't even told me your name."

"Why bother?" Laurent said. Even if Laurent had been interested in striking up some conversation with Damen, he wouldn't have introduced himself by name. He'd have to be an idiot to reveal who he was to a stranger. And Laurent didn't think he owed Damen any information about himself anyway. It wasn't like he'd asked for the man to show up.

Damen apparently wasn't willing to take a (very obvious, in Laurent's opinion) hint, for he suggested, "I could come with you."

"You really couldn't. I'd make a point of stopping you."

"You think you could take me?" Damen asked. There was that irritating grin of his again. 

Laurent was in no mood for it. "I'd suggest you avoid finding out. Unless you're desperate to cause an international incident on your first day here."

Apparently Damen had _some_ small measure of common sense, because he didn't push it that far. 

"I'll see you around the palace, then," Damen said as Laurent took his chance to stride away.

"I doubt it," Laurent called back. He wasn't sure why he bothered to respond at all really, really, when he could have made his point just as well by ignoring Damen entirely. But then, as Auguste would say, Laurent always did like to get the last word.

And Laurent really did think he'd managed that. He'd honestly thought he wouldn't see Damen again, and had (nearly) forgotten about him after the hours spent clearing his head and wandering the palace grounds aimlessly and the night of surprisingly decent sleep. Right up until the following day when he was formally introduced to Prince Damianos of Akielos.

Laurent thought for a moment that Damen – or _Damianos_ , apparently – would give away to everyone present that he'd seen Laurent escaping the palace the previous day, which would have resulted in Father lecturing Laurent about irresponsibility and then Mother being disappointed at his failure to successfully conceal himself, especially from an _Akielon_ of all people. But instead, Damen only said with an unbearable level of smugness, "It's good to properly meet you, Prince Laurent." And that was somehow just as bad.

Laurent already hated him, he decided resolutely. Especially that smile. And _especially_ that stupid dimple. 

He didn't know how he was going to put up with this idiot for _two whole weeks_.


End file.
